MEDICINE FOR MODERN TIMES

This piece is the result of the final major project of my degree. With the project being self directed and the one that would represent my time on the course, I wanted to choose a topic that would push me. After reading 'The Psychopath Test' by John Ronson, I became interested in the concept that psychopathy works on a spectrum and in certain intelligent and non-violent individuals, it can actually be the key to success. This theory is otherwise known as functional psychopathy.

Influenced by museums such as the Wellcome Collection in London, I decided to create a fictional exhibition and an accompanying book based on the aforementioned theory. Using a combination of 3D exhibition design, infographics, editorial design, illustration, colour theory and custom typography, I explored various theories, analogies and studies as well as carrying out a questionnaire myself on the subject and set about interpreting the information visually.

The resulting book and 3D posters, using minimalist layouts set on grey paper to represent the psychopathic brains dulled senses and lack of activity as well as reflecting the theory that psychopathy is the next step in modern day evolution, demonstrate all the areas of the condition and showcase my diversity and range as a designer.

THAMESIDE BREWING Co.

This project is the result of a self-directed brief I did for my second year final major project. Before starting, I knew I wanted to do something involving elements of branding, packaging and hand lettering. After looking at various areas these disciplines could apply to, creating a fictional microbrewery and range of craft beers felt like the perfect fit. After some research, the way the majority of breweries described the complexed tasting notes and aromas of their beers, with many also recommending food pairings, it became clear that there was a direct comparison with wine. With this in mind, I set about creating a range of luxury beers - four standard and one limited edition - that would bridge this gap and introduce craft beer to a wider audience.

Naming the brewery after the river that runs alongside my university I used the history of the Thames as inspiration for the design. The beers are named after iconic eras in the Thames history, the drop cap logo incorporates an anchor and the labels represent a swollen sail. For the lettering, I used the language from the tasting notes for an IPA, ruby ale, porter, blonde beer and a porter aged in whisky barrels for the limited edition beer. This helped give each bottle its own sense of personality.

FREEGANISM

This is my entry for the 2017 D&AD New Blood awards. Monotype required entrants to select a country, culture or community that is misrepresented, underrepresented or misunderstood. I chose Freeganism as I feel they are misrepresented as merely being 'dumpster divers' or scavengers. In reality, their philosophy of living off waste and sharing unwanted goods is a strong political statement and one that more people should live by. To represent them, I took the political motif and created a condensed sans serif typeface to show their modern way of thinking and replicated layouts similar to campaign posters. I aligned all text bottom right to demonstrate that freeganism is an alternative to the norm. We were required to produce at least one poster, one digital element and one touch point. To adhere to the Freegan philosophy each posted, showing food wastage statistics in the U.K, were made using food which is typically wasted in a way that they could still be consumed after wards, i.e. Marmite on toast for one, etching in banana skins and creating ink from berries which would be a side product of making jam out of foraged fruits. My touchpoint was a bag with the website and campaign strap line painted on with berry juice that contained vegetables that were scavenged, foraged or donated and a recipe for vegetable soup. This would be handed to the public outside of supermarkets to demonstrate how they can eat meals from food that could potentially go to waste. Finally the digital element shows details of an internet campaign in which Freegans would push to get all council allocated recycling bins to display food wastage statistics as a reminder to the public and subsequently a preventative measure.

NOVUS

This is another second year university project where we were asked to brand a fictional company based on five randomly chosen criteria - A type of company, two pantone colours, a buzzword and an element to be included in the logo. The result of my selection was an environmentally aware grocers that had to use letters or a name either in or for the logo.

After researching various competitors, I decided upon creating a brand that focused on local organic produce that passionately believed in supporting and championing local farmers. To try and seperate the brand from other companies in a convoluted market, I decided to make the tone of voice and graphics fun, relaxed and slightly tongue in cheek. This is personified in the poster campaign, designed to show that organic items aren’t a miracle health product but simply the way food is meant to be.

To try and encapsulate the passion I wanted the brand to have about their produce and the environment, I used asparagus dipped in calligraphy ink to create the expressive main logo and all the labels and stationary was printed on recycled eco-friendly brown paper.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

This is my entry into the 2017 Random House Student Design Award. After reading the book and looking at existing designs, I decided to address the strong theme of racial segregation that runs through the novel. To portray this, I made the spread predominantly white leading to the front cover being divided between white and black. As a metaphor for the two characters who rise above the racism and treat white and black people equally, Atticus Finch and Tom Robinson, I illustrated a Mockingbird feather that has been pinned down. The Mockingbird represents innocence but the innocent characters are both trapped, Tom Robinson literally in jail and Atticus in a trail he cannot win. Rather than using the full bird, I used a feather as it hints that the bird is in distress or injured. The pin shows that they are confined by the town and its inhabitants beliefs. The rough texture throughout represents the great depression which had a huge effect on Maycomb, the town the novel was set in.

IGNORANCE

This is my final major piece from my first year at University. We were asked to produce two posters for the Science Museum showing the positive and negatives of ignorance.

My posters were a visual response to the George Bernard Shaw quote "science never solves a problem without creating ten more". The blue poster shows that by solving the problems created, the possibilities opened up are endless whereas by being ignorant to solving new issues, no progress will be made.

WHAT IS BLACK

This book is the outcome of another second year brief where we were tasked with creating a book based on a single word which would be given to us at random. The word that was allocated to me was ‘adaptation’.

After researching various interpretations of the word, I discovered articles about how the eye adapts to light and dark. Given my limited knowledge on the subject and it’s scientific content, I chose to create a book aimed at secondary school children describing the process that the eye goes through when adapting to extreme changes in light and dark. Whilst researching, a statement that stood out was that when entering a dark environment, the eye adapts to define ‘what is black’. This defined the books content as a whole and was an obvious choice for a title. Throughout the book, I experimented with colour, leading, kerning and various layouts to explain the content described in a visual manner that would be more accessible to a younger audience. Given the subject manner, I also used traditional optotype structures to give the pages the feel of material you would typically read from at an opticians.

NICE BELT

This piece was the result of a two week brief we were given as part of a 3D design project. We were tasked with packaging a joke which had to be suitable for all the family (i.e. No swearing, sexual content, etc.). The joke I decided to use was "What did the 0 say to the 8... Nice Belt" With the product being rather obvious I looked to package belts in a way that was unique to the market, targeting them mainly at the 18-25 male market.

COCKTAIL LETTERING

This series was done as part of my third year exhibition, entitled 'Thirst'. Each of the students on my course chose a cocktail that they either enjoyed or felt represented them. I set about creating lettering that visually represented the drink, name or the student that it represented.

LEIGH FOLK FESTIVAL

Another first year brief from University. We were asked to produce a CD cover, eight page booklet and poster for the annual Leigh Folk Festival using digital means. For my design, I created a vector consisting of folk instruments and landmarks from old Leigh. To add to this, I sampled the colours from the old cockle sheds that personify the area and used an aged paper texture for the background to give it additional warmth.

LONGFELLOWS SPONGE FINGERS

Another of my second year Uni projects. For this, we were given a classic comedy film and tasked with packaging a key element of it. My film, "I'm all right Jack", featured a scene that took place in a cake factory that created 'Num Yums'. The billboard, despite being aimed at women, depicted a woman in her underwear being fed the cakes in bed. I took this stereotypical idea of men buying treats like this for their partner in order to get something and looked at it from a satirical viewpoint, focusing on how sexist advertising tended to be in the fifties which is when the film was made. This is why I filled the design with countless innuendos to poke fun at this outdated stereotype, including individual cake boxes in sleeves that simulate an... well you get the idea.

KEEP YOURSELF WARM

This is a self-initiated piece to practise both linocutting and hand lettering, two techniques I love. The piece is based on a song title by one of my favourite bands, Frightened Rabbit. I tried to capture the authenticity and warmth (no pun intended) I hear in the song.

FAT DUCK MENU

Another first year brief. For this, we were asked to create a menu for Heston Blumenthal's restaurant 'The Fat Duck'. We were asked to consider his unusual approach to cuisine and try to reflect it in our design.

Whilst researching Blumenthal, I realised that he enjoys nothing more than getting childlike reactions from his diners. With this in mind, I created the menu as a present as I see this as another item that gives people that feeling of excitement and wonder.

WORK TO LIVE

This is a summer project we were given before going back for our second year at college. We were asked to produce a piece based on the last thing we had written by hand and were given one objective - it had to be A0 in size. The last thing I had written was an overtime slip so I looked into overtime statistics. Through this research, I found a statistic stating that by working 3-4 hours over the recommended 7 hours a day, you are 60% more likely to develop heart problems at some point in your life.

I found that quite shocking so decided to create a visual response. I made the image only using triangles as I felt this complimented the theme of stress well.

THE MODERN PROMETHEUS

This is the result of the first brief of my second year. We were asked to produce an image to advertise a 2017 film telling the story of Frankenstein.

Given the date of the film, I wanted to portray a modern version of Shelley's novel. I used clean, geometric shapes for the main image to represent the advances in science whilst using a collage of screen prints made using mixtures of fake blood, compost and charcoal as an ode to the original monster. I also used Baskerville, a typeface created at a similar time to the novel, as another way of acknowledging Shelley's work.

FRED

I was asked to produce a contemporary poster for my University in order to promote the fundamental British Values - Democracy, individual liberty, the rule of law and respect and tolerance. The faculty gave the campaign the acronym FRED, standing for Freedom, Respect, Equality and Diversity. I wanted to step away from the stereotypical imagery associated with similar campaigns and decided to created a typographic logo in order to achieve this. The colour of the logo was obtained by blurring the Union Jack until it became one colour. The letters each have their individual patterns representing different cultures, religions, etc. and then set in a circle to show that they can co-exist in harmony.

WEB DESIGN

A collection of some web-sites I have created for a variety of clients.